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Liturgy

There’s an old saying in liturgical churches–What’s the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist. Fr. John Z. intends to poke fun at liturgists, but he ends up unwittingly illustrating the joke. Lost in the discussion is Jesus’ own command: Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say…

John Allen reports, and Fr. John Z. comments, on the change of papal master of ceremonies. The outgoing MC and his replacement are both named Marini–but there the similarity ends. Under the outgoing Marini, papal liturgies had “enough dance to remind them of Broadway production numbers” (John Allen’s quote), and a fondness for questionable indigenous…

CWN and Zenit report that Cardinal Dario Castrillon-Hoyos has sent a warning shot over the bow of bishops who would give problems to priests who want to celebrate the old mass. Today is the date of implementation of the pope’s recent motu proprio; Castrillon-Hoyos notes: “The important thing is that in this moment, priests can…

Fr. John Z. shows us one of the many reasons why the Tridentine mass was changed at Vatican II. He doesn’t intend to, of course. He thinks it all makes perfect sense. STAND for the Gloria and the Credo, but SIT when the priest does. STAND for the Preface (and the dialogue preceding it) KNEEL…

Some things from Fr. John Z. Canadian Catholics have been using the NRSV for many years; the Vatican has now given final approval to their practice. American Catholics, meanwhile, are forbidden from using it, and must suffer through the abominable New American Bible. Archbishop Pilarczyk of Cincinnati is adding layers of requirements to priests who…

Fr. John Z. continues to blog about reactions to the pope’s motu proprio allowing greater use of the 1962 Missale Romanum, today posting a letter sent by the Bishop of Steubenville, OH, to his priests with some interesting demands. The motu proprio is just one more instance of the tug-of-war over authority that dominates the…

Mark Francis, writing in The Tablet, doesn’t like Summorum Pontificum. To say that the old rite wasn’t abrogated is “sleight of hand”–everyone understood it to be abrogated, and even John Paul II spoke of his permission as a pastoral concession, not as recognizing its non-abrogation. He has disdain for Benedict’s lack of liturgical credentials. He…

Supposedly the MP was released on Saturday to minimize news coverage. Well, all that strategy accomplished was to make sure articles about it appeared in the Sunday paper that Americans read with leisure. Washington Post calls it a “looming headache for Catholic parishes.” “Where there are groups that want it, it’s going to be a…

Summorum Pontificum in English (an unofficial translation), with introductory letter by the pope, and summary by USCCB Committee on Liturgy (That’s in PDF–Rocco has it in HTML). On the matter of the relationship with Jews, the USCCB commentary says: 14. Does the wider use of the extraordinary form of the rites of Holy Week reflect…

So does the Moto Proprio do anything new? Not really. There are already priests who have permission to celebrate mass according to the 1962 Missal, some do so in private, some do so in public. There are some parishes that do everything according to the 1962 Missal (including the Good Friday prayers), in particular those…

Rocco’s summary of the contents of the Motu Proprio doesn’t say anything about the controversial Good Friday prayers for the Jews. But let’s take note of a couple of things. 1) It does say there are to be no private celebrations of this mass during the Triduum (which includes Good Friday); 2) priests will be…

Rocco Palmo has received and digested–and now reports on–the Motu Proprio. It is, he says, “a decisive compromise.” Benedict expresses his frustration with all the speculation over the last many months, on all sides. As stated in recent reports, the pope says the old mass was “never abrogated,” and that it will continue as an…

Thanks to a Catholic News Service story about internet resources on the Tridentine mass, I learned that there are many videos of it on YouTube. One is from 1941, with narration by Fulton Sheen. There are also videos of the Sarum rite (partial), Mozarabic (partial) and the Ambrosian.

Rorate Caeli has some pictures of different celebrations of the mass, playing upon the distinction that purportedly will be made by Pope Benedict XVI between the 1970 missal as the “ordinary” celebration and the 1962 missal as “extraordinary.” Via WDTPRS. Here’s my favorite picture of the Lord’s Supper:

Richard John Neuhaus seeks to minimize concerns about Good Friday prayers in the Tridentine mass by saying, “We’re not talking about a major part of Catholic worship.” Philip Cunningham at Boston College disagrees.

The matter of the forthcoming motu proprio liberalizing use of the so-called Tridentine Mass raises other questions regarding the Catholic Church’s commitment to ecumenism and interfaith dialogue. If one “brings back” that mass (I put it in quotes because it never left), does one also bring back pre-conciliar views on other Christians and Jews? A…

Zadok Romanus directs us to the official announcement on the Vatican webpage of the pope’s meeting yesterday discussing the upcoming publication of the Motu Proprio on the Tridentine mass. And now secular news services have picked up the scent: AP, New York Times. Last, but not least, Catholic News Service. For a refresher, see the…

Carl Olson cites Robert Moynihan. … It isn’t about the Latin. (And the Latin Mass is, in any case, not the Latin Mass at all; that is a misnomer; it is, rather, “the Latin, Greek and Aramaic Mass,” with “Kyrie eleison” in Greek and “Amen” and “Alleluia” in Aramaic.) And those who think Latin is…

My non-Catholic readers might not be aware of the buzz that has been going around the Catholic blogosphere for many months about Pope Benedict XVI’s intention to issue a motu proprio (meaning a document he’s issuing in his own name, on his own authority) giving much greater freedom to priests to celebrate mass according to…

John Allen: Hold your breath for the next media frenzy: The Latin Mass document is coming. New questions raised about implications of old prayers for current Jewish-Catholic relations. Servite Fr. John Pawlikowski, an American, wrote to Kasper on March 29 on behalf of the executive body of the International Council of Christians and Jews. Pawlikowski,…

I’ve said little about the much rumored, speculated, and bally-hooed Motu Proprio that will allegedly free the Tridentine Mass and, if some rumors are to be believed, inaugurate the eschaton. But this from CWN leads to a discussion on that page that I must draw attention to. DV: Remember that even the very traditional-minded young…

Pope upholds Communion, celibacy bans. Really? I didn’t know Catholics had a ban on celibacy! Pope issues rules on Eucharist, brings back Latin Mass. The “Latin Mass” never left; but in this document he has not brought back the Missal of St. Pius V. Pope: Gay marriage non-negotiable. Hmm. He said Marriage and the family…

Interview with SSPX Bishop Fellay; another with Archbishop Malcom Ranjith; another from a Mexican newspaper. A major problem with any talk of reconciliation with the SSPX is its hostility to Jews, ecumenism, and religious liberty. If these are not addressed openly … there will be problems.

Can there be such a thing? Fr. Reginald Foster thinks so. The phrase comes in this article: He said reports that Pope Benedict will reintroduce the Tridentine Mass, which dates from 1570 and is largely conducted in Latin, were wrong – not least because of the Pope’s desire to avoid more controversies. A speech last…